Our Love is Tragedy, Why are You my Remedy?
by awksplosion
Summary: [A/N: Set during The Amazing Spiderman movie, after Peter deals with a bank robbery down in New York city.] After Gwen is forced to care for Peter when he is seriously injured, she begins to contemplate him being Spiderman and what it will do to their relationship. Close to death, Peter refuses professional help and only wants the healing hands of the woman he loves.
1. Chapter 1

It was a chilling night in apartment 2016. Gwen Stacy had been left alone for the weekend whilst her parents and younger brothers visited family in Connecticut. She had refused to join them; if Peter needed her in any way, she would hate to be absent in his desperation. An eerie draft wafted throughout Gwen's room, despite the fact her windows were slammed tightly shut. Shivering, Gwen pulled her cardigan tighter around her torso as she continued working on the homework she had been laboriously slaving over for the past few hours. Once again, she checked her phone and found nothing. No text from Peter. Gwen's heart twisted in worry and she felt a lump of anxiety rise in her throat. _Don't be stupid, _her thoughts wavered,_ your boyfriend is Spiderman, he'll be alright. _For some reason, Gwen didn't trust the voice inside her voice like she usually did.

Thank God she'd stayed home that weekend.

Gwen heard a thud out from the fire escape. Turning her head slowly (she didn't have Peter's sharp reflexes), she furrowed her brow in irritancy. The curtains were drawn shut as they always were at this time, but no shadow was outlined behind them. Weird. Gwen sighed, and continued on with her work only to be disturbed by the same thud a few moments later. _Just the wind, _she thought, but her natural curiosity was overpowering and she found herself moving over to the window. Closing her fingers round the soft material of the curtains, Gwen yanked the curtains to either side and gasped.

Stood before her on the fire escape, was a very dishevelled looking Peter. A sheen of sweat spread across his face, he couldn't even manage that lopsided smile that drove Gwen wild. Tiny cuts and sprouting bruises dotted his cheekbones, his forehead, his chin, and a stream of crimson trickled from his left nostril. Casting a creepy shadow over his deep brown iris, a purple-black bruise creased a circle around Peter's eye. The Spiderman suit clung uncomfortably to his body, outlining his slight (but oddly muscular) frame, slick with sweat. Vivid red blood gushed from a gaping wound that stretched from Peter's shoulder down to the top of his elbow, and the flesh was mangled and twisted. Beads of his warm, pulsing life glided down his forearm and dripped off his index finger onto the metal floor. Clutching his mask in his good hand, Peter was gripping the railing of the fire escape so tight Gwen could visibly see it quivering slightly. He hung his head down, tilted on a slight angle, his breath coming in short and painful gasps. Each intake of oxygen was like a stab in the ribs. Uncontrollable, frantic, violent shaking subjugated Peter's hunched body and made him look so vulnerable.

"P-Peter?" Gwen stammered, her voice sounding like a choked animal. Peter lifted his head for a split second to gaze into Gwen's eyes…

Then collapsed, unconscious, on the metal grating of the fire escape.


	2. Chapter 2

Sitting at her computer desk, Gwen pressed her knuckles hard against her lips, gazing at Peter as he slept. Anxiety's deadly fingers tore at her insides and pummelled her ribs into flecks of bony dust, and wrung all the hope from her heart with continuous, throbbing clutches. Tears hung in jeopardy in her lower eye lids, almost capsizing through Gwen's thick eyelashes. But no, she had to be strong. For Peter. An uneasy spark rippled down her spine as she recalled the events of last night.

_Hauling her boyfriend through the window, Gwen often had to pause to drag her sleeve across her eyes. Shock was the worst feeling to have, in her opinion. Wherever Peter went, he left a sticky trail of blood behind him. As Gwen lugged all 6ft of lanky limbs onto her bed, her white sheets were immediately stained crimson. She remembered the first-aid course her father had put her through last year, as a precaution as Captain Stacy knew the dangers that living in New York could bring. Gwen's body reacted before her mind, and she found herself almost sprinting down the hall to the bathroom, where she clumsily swept up an armful of medical supplies. Returning to her bedroom, Gwen noticed that Peter's chest rose and fell in a frantic rhythm as his lungs rapidly tried to inflate and deflate themselves. She knelt beside the bed, strategically shifting her knees from a particularly soaked patch of blood that was now dripping onto the floor. With great difficulty, Gwen managed to peel the Spiderman suit halfway down Peter's damaged body, revealing a whole new field of injuries, old and new. _

_"Oh, Peter…" she uttered, and he stirred slightly at the sound of her voice before falling deeper into comatose. Gwen first dealt with the worst injury; the gaping wound on Peter's arm. Letting a few drops of antiseptic liquid fall into the gash, she listened as an agonized moan evaded Peter's parted lips. She hated to see him in so much pain. If he could barely deal with a tiny dose of disinfectant, how could he push through the rest of the medical care that Gwen was to carry out? She bit her lip, and told herself to just get on with it. The sooner she started, the sooner it could be done. The needle had barely pierced Peter's skin when he flinched alarmingly, then whimpered like a young child._

_"I'm sorry…" she whispered, letting her thumb caress Peter's damp face "I'm sorry…". Building up every ounce of strength that Gwen had in her small body, she thrust the needle into Peter's skin and continued to thread the stitches into his arm, valiantly ignoring the excruciated groaning and wailing that he reacted with. This process seemed to go on forever, as she also had to wrap a bandage round the scar, until Gwen sat back on her haunches and admired the neat rows of stitching she had inflicted on her boyfriend's upper arm. She always did have a hand for this sort of thing. The rest of the destruction could not be dealt with – minor scratches and cuts, bruises, that sort of thing. It killed Gwen to feel so helpless as she could only sit by and peer on as Peter suffered like this._

The rustling of sheets snapped Gwen back to the present. Hopefully, she glanced in Peter's direction but was disappointed to see that he had only drifted his leg slightly upwards. He barely looked himself. His adorable features still didn't fail to melt Gwen's heart, nevertheless his skin was too pale, body too enervated. Sweat shone across every bit of him that was visible, and when Gwen rested her hand against his cheek, she jolted it away. Hot. Too hot. Rummaging through the medical supplies that lay in a heap on her bedroom floor, she triumphantly pulled a thermometer from beneath a roll of bandages. Gently, Gwen tucked the thermometer into Peter's mouth and felt the immense heat of his swift breath radiating into the air. After waiting for a moment, she checked the reading on the thermometer. 39 degrees. Feverous. Gwen had no idea what to do…what could she do?


	3. Chapter 3

[A/N: So sorry that I haven't updated sooner. The rush of the final weeks of school has mixed up my week and I'm busy sorting things out, so you'll have to bear with me for now. I break up from school on Friday, so expect more frequent updates after then. Thanks for all the compliments; they mean a lot to me!]

Gwen's fingers weaved effortlessly into his, consuming their two hands into a snug embrace of compassion and tranquillity. The rigid grasp that they two held was not a hold of anger or hatred, but it was a bond of utter love and devotion. Invincible. Unbreakable. Gwen never wanted to let go of Peter's hand, the mere presence of his touch shocked her body into a feeling like she was soaring high above the New York skyline. _He looks so peaceful, _Gwen thought as she focussed her eyes on the sleeping Peter. A pearl white, damp cloth lay across his forehead; its purpose was to (unsuccessfully) bring down his fever. She could only hope that his spider powers would heal his body faster than a human rate. During the past two hours, Peter had drifted in and out of consciousness, but even when his eyes were open he remained lethargic and oblivious to his surroundings. Leaning her head slowly down, Gwen pecked her boyfriend's hand with her lips. Hah, so maybe fairy tales aren't tales after all. For Peter's eyes snapped wide open, after fluttering from shut to open like a butterfly's wings.

"Gwen?" He panicked, swinging his hand which Gwen was holding back and forth a few times "Gwen?"

"Sh, I'm here." Gwen caressed Peter's scratched cheek with her index finger as he let out a deep sigh of relief, only to groan and wrap his arms around his torso in pain "I'm here, don't worry."

"Oh, I thought you were…I thought you were…" Peter's breath rattled slightly and his eyelids fought perilously to meet each other.

"Hey, sleeping beauty. Stay with me, okay?" Gwen smiled reassuringly at Peter, and was proud that she masked the worry from her voice. The corners of his lips twitched upwards. _Oh, he's so gorgeous, _Gwen's mind raced, _even when he's been used as a human punch bag._

"Tired…" Peter whispered, not daring to move a muscle.

"You've been sleeping for the past-" Gwen let her eyes drift away from Peter's momentarily to check the clock "-12 hours. You were out like a light."

"Gwen." A pleading tone crept into his voice. Mother Hubbard, all he wanted to do was sleep.

"Peter." She mimicked his tone "Don't go back under. Please. Just…stay with me." He gave her a curt nod and winced at the throbbing bruises on the side of his neck. Gwen bit her lip and traced the purple splodge, skimming her thumb over the damaged skin. The more alert Peter became, the more the pain increased. As much as he tried to stifle them, Peter's moans were becoming incessant and more agonised every time. Dashing out of the bedroom and down the hallway, Gwen rummaged messily through the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. The best she could find was a half-empty tray of painkillers. Really? That was all she could do for him? Furious with herself, Gwen thumped her elbows on the rim of the sink and clutched her forehead in her hands, caught in a flurry of hot tears. She hated not feeling good enough. Her boyfriend was suffering excruciating pain, and all she could give him was a couple of tablets that she doubted would work for more than five minutes. _Hold on a second_, Gwen thought, _Peter's in there completely helpless and you're in here feeling sorry for yourself, gosh, get a grip. _Aggressively rubbing her eyes with her sleeves, Gwen took a deep breath and composed herself.

She forced a heartening smile and moved back into the bedroom, and Peter beamed at her with that lopsided grin that perfected him. Soon after, he scowled as he had irritated the slashes on his face and most of them now oozed sticky blood. Gwen instinctively mopped Peter's face with the cloth, his head lolling in her lap as she knelt on her bed beside him. Finally she let the flannel curl around Peter's forehead and glided her hand over his hair. Cupping his head protectively, she gingerly lifted it and gave Peter two painkillers with a glass of water. He gulped the water before shuddering in pain, and flopped back down his head back down onto Gwen's thighs. She was taken aback when she realised just how majestic his eyes were. Swirling pools of rich, dark chocolate with sparkling flecks of auburn like the embers of a roaring, open, winter fire. They were mesmerising, and Gwen couldn't pull her gaze from them. All she wanted was to freeze this moment, this absolutely positively perfect moment, and live in it for a thousand eternities. She wanted to fall into Peter's eyes, into the wonderland of dreams that they must have held, and for him to fall in too. They could live in harmony with none of these injuries, none of this fear or uncertainty. It broke Gwen's heart for all this to be impossible.

"Have I ever told you," Peter began, keeping that goofy smile locked on his face "that I love you, Gwen?"


	4. Chapter 4 FINAL

They crashed into each other. It was magic, the way Peter's lips connected with Gwen's. It was right, and somehow, among all of the dizziness and the clinging to him like a life line, something inside her changed, never to be reversed. This new feeling could be dwelled upon later, because, for now, Gwen was content to feel his breath come and go with hers. The sheer electricity of his touch inflamed the prickling sensation of goose bumps unfurling across Gwen's skin. All pain, all uncertainty and worry, was to be forgotten at that moment. For all that mattered, was these two lovers, locked out of love, but colliding all the same as they merged into one. They moved together in unison, like a pair of doves in the summer sunset. Gwen could see it now…the setting sky with a pink tinge, streaked with sheds of orange and yellow. Beautiful. Neither Peter nor Gwen could hear anything but the serene beating of the other's heart, pressed against their own chest. Ignore any other kiss in history, this was by far the best expression of love and passion that ever happened; each of their breaths poured out their devotion for each other and echoed in the air around them. In those moments, nothing else existed but Peter and Gwen. Peter didn't seem bothered by his injuries any more…it was almost as if the pure touch of Gwen was all the medication he needed. The buzzing and ringing of Gwen's phone now seemed a million light-years away. Without even parting his closed eyelids, Peter grabbed the phone in his fist and tossed it carelessly over his shoulder. A clatter rang out across the room and the two teenagers both turned their heads to face a pile of books from Gwen's shelf cascaded to the floor. Gwen broke into a fit of giggles as Peter looked guiltily back at her, his brown eyes turned to those of a puppy's. Well, at least he was acting himself again. She shook her head with a smirk, and they morphed back into their sweet embrace.

_I'll never stop trying…_

_I'll never stop watching as you leave…_

_I'll never stop losing my breath…_

_Every time I see you looking back at me…_

_I'll never stop holding your hand…_

_I'll never stop opening your door…_

_I'll never stop choosing you babe…_

_I'll never get used to you._

_And with this love song to you,_

_It's not a momentary phase,_

_You are my life, I don't deserve you,_

_But you love me just the same,_

_And as the mirror says we're older,_

_I will not look the other way,_

_You are my life, my love, my only,_

_And that's the one thing that won't change._

[A/N: Final chapter of this story. Trust me, there will be more TASM stuff to come! Who else is super excited for the second movie? I've seen some photos from the filming, ohmygodandrewandemmaresocute. I've slaved over this for the past hour and a half, I wanted to finish this story off perfectly. The last bit is an extract of the song lyrics for 'Never Stop' by SafetySuit. Here's a link to the wedding version, it's a lot better than the original because it's all electric-guitary and less emotional: watch?v=bDrflxhW7nE&hd=1. I think this song describes EVERYTHING about Peter and Gwen, the melody is so beautiful and the lyrics make me want to cry. Please give more reviews on this entire story, every comment is much appreciated! Seeya later, lizard-haters :)]


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